BENGALURU: With increasing roadkills in national highways that criss-cross the tiger reserves of Nagarhole and Bandipur, the state forest department is planning to implement new initiatives on two major highways to check speeding vehicles and impose strict fine on offenders. On Wednesday night, a female leopard was killed after it was hit by a speeding vehicle in D B Kuppe Range of Nagarhole Tiger Reserve. Three of her cubs are missing. Earlier this month, a barking deer and a spotted deer were killed in Bandipur Tiger Reserve when they were crossing this stretch.
The forest department is now planning to install new CCTV cameras at regular intervals with computer screens on both Mananthavady and Sultan Bathery highways that see heavy traffic and had the maximum number of road kills. Such cameras have been installed in Australia where they can take long-distance shots while the images are clear. The 13-km Mananthavady road through the tiger reserve will need 26 such cameras and the department hopes to get CSR funds for this initiative.
The Mysuru-Mananthavady Highway, that was upgraded to a high-speed road in 2009, and the Gundlupet-Sultan Bathery highway which traverses through these two tiger reserves — are responsible for hundreds of road kills every year. G Veeresh, wildlife activist, added, “In tiger reserves limits, highway users should adhere to speed limits but most of them do not. Forest department should put speed breakers every 500 metres. Check posts at both entry and exit points should compulsorily check the vehicle and give pass tokens. Further, time limits should be given for the passage of vehicles.”
The bane of modern cars
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Chief Wildlife Warden, C Jayaram said despite having humps at regular intervals, modern cars can pick up speed just after 100 metres and are responsible for the increasing road kills in these two highways across Bandipur and Nagarhole. He said, “Both the roads witness heavy traffic and we have speed breakers at regular intervals.
But we are unable to curb their love for speed as modern cars zoom back to high speed after crossing a short distance. We were successful in Kali Tiger Reserve in curbing road kills with installation of humps, as the traffic there is due to heavy vehicles (trucks and lorries), while in Bandipur and Nagarhole, it is cars.”He added that he will write a letter to his counterpart in Kerala on the issue of lifting of night traffic ban in Bandipur.